SATURDAY'S SINGLES : BILLY PRESTON and HEART

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Good morning gang and welcome to the return of Saturday's Singles. First up we find ourselves remembering R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel musician, Billy Preston, on this, the 14th anniversary of his death. He passed away in 2006, age 59, from respiratory failure. His first #1 hit is our subject of focus today. "Will It Go Round In Circles" was released in March 1973 on the A&M label. It was written by Billy and Bruce Fisher and appeared on Billy's seventh studio album, Music Is My Life. In addition to topping the charts in the US and Canada, it also peaked at #10 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and #20 in South Africa. It's B-side is one of rock's most covered songs, "Blackbird" originally by The Beatles.

Billy Preston: keyboards, bass guitar, vocals
George Johnson: guitar
Louis Johnson: bass guitar
Hubert Heard: keyboards
Manuel Kellough: drums
Tom Scott: horn
Jim Horn: horn
George Bohanon: horn
Buck Monari: horn
Paul Hubinon: horn
The Campbell-Kurban String Section: strings
Clarence McDonald, David T. Walker: arrangements

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Our second Saturday's Single's parent album, Bad Animals, was released by Heart, on this day in 1987. The first single off that album is our second single today. "Alone" was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who recorded it as AOR band, i-Ten. The next year the song was covered by Valerie Stevenson and John Stamos, for the theme song to their CBS sitcom, Dreams. Three years later sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson covered it as Heart, making it the third version released in the 80s. Their version went to #1 in the US and Canada, #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts, and #3 on the Mainstream Rock Charts.

Ann Wilson – lead vocals, background vocals
Nancy Wilson – guitars, keyboards, lead vocals, background vocals
Howard Leese – guitars, keyboards, background vocals
Mark Andes – bass guitars
Denny Carmassi – drums

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